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The Tenebrous Brothers
Overview The Tenebrous Brothers is a Halloween themed, spooky session meant to be played in October. Unlike some of the more structured scenarios, this session is very personal to the characters, each having their own haunt that pushes their story forward. Also, since the groups are at different stages of the story, it's important that this session fit into what's currently happening. If the players are already in the northern lands, it's no problem to introduce them to this blight-filled area. If they are in another area, a story reason must be given why the area is infested with Mantellian Marrow. Additional description of the mental effects of the blight can be found in Jinko's Journal. Group Specific Background Group A: In preparation for potential war, soldiers have blocked all eastbound roads. Players learn of a haunted, secret pass that no one uses. History Music Kervon Haunt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dms_6ygk8c Rynn Haunt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0NJsW3y02s Garamond Haunt: http://www.infinitelooper.com/?v=LeldCwYDE5o&p=n Amethyst Haunt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0NJsW3y02s Peridot Haunt: http://www.infinitelooper.com/?v=peGu0E5-qKs&p=n Demogorgon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGW8Lazguis It's Near: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-M8P14u_G8 Ballroom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRgwycboyfw Mechanics It's Near At the DM's discretion, or on a random timer, the DM will announce 'it's near' and play the sound. Players must roll an unmodified d20 until they hit 18 or higher. This must happen even if the players are getting food or are in the bathroom. Hue lights in the bathroom and kitchen help signal this. Players then must make a sanity check against a DC of 2x the number of seconds it took for all team members to make the roll. https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Madness#content https://sterlingvermin.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/troubled-minds1.pdf Intended Defeat of Demogorgon Various hints are dropped along the players' journey that The Tenebrous Brothers fought with each other over control of the pass. Hethradiah went mad and manifested something terrible in the forest. After that event, they got along better. The intention is that that players realize this and one will choose to intentionally fall into madness in order to manifest something that can fight Demogorgon. Demogorgon will go after this creature before any others. Whatever they choose to manifest, find it in the manuals or online and let them control it. Wheel of Fate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDn4NRVkG4Y Upon entering the forest, each player must spin the wheel of fate, a physical prop I bought from Target. Stay Close to Mummy: Player immediately becomes a mummy and attacks the other players. (MM pg. 228) After defeat, they are at their health from before becoming a mummy. Doesn't Look Good: Player becomes ugly and unrecognizable for 1d4 days. Your Future is Murky: Player's vision distance is halved, and has disadvantage on sight based checks for 1d4 days. You Don't Want to Know: A surprise effect will come into play at a time in the future during the session. DM pick from the madness table. You Better Stay Home: Leomund's Tiny Hut appears around the player. The door is locked from both sides. A butler with a key around his neck is in the house hassles the player until they do something to RP well. https://dnd5e.wikia.com/wiki/Leomund%27s_Tiny_Hut Watch Your Back: The player's head turns around 180 degrees for 1d4 days. Player gains disadvantage on acrobatics and athletics checks, and advantage on perception checks, but only if something might be behind them. Treats Will be Yours: For 1d4 days, player gains advantage on all Charisma checks, as long as they say trick-or-treat, no matter how confusing that is to the person they are interacting with. Beware of the Dark: Player gains fear of dark areas for 1d4 days. Must make fear check in every new area. Haunts Intro Players arrive at the entrance of Tenebrous Pass. As the fog clears, they see a forest filled with pink flowers. A DC 10 Nature check reveals these as Mantellian Marrow. If somewhere other than the North: A DC 17 Nature check reveals they are not supposed to be here. When they enter the forest, each player is handed an identical note and told they may read it as long as they want, but it must not be discussed until everyone is done reading. Each note has a letter on it to feign tracking as DM. The intention is to sow distrust with the possibility of a traitor amongst them. The Mansion Outside: "You arrive at an ancient mansion. The foundations have sunk unevenly, and the frame has shifted diagonally, creating more of a parallelogram shape than that of a conventional straight walled home. The paint has all peeled away, exposing rotted, splintering wood. As you approach, you can smell the stench of mildew and rotting flesh even before you reach what's left of the porch." At the door: "The bronze handles of the ornately carved door are cast as two snakes scowling at each other." Inside: "Inside, the stench of rotting flesh increases." ''Players make a DC 13 Con save or retch immediately. "''A balcony overlooks what used to be an enormous combination foyer/ballroom. On the balcony is a crude wooden chair. You hear a short shuffling noise from the hallway to your left." If the players follow, they see two stubby legs crawl into a dumbwaiter, and hear it crank down to a lower floor. If the players try to yank it up, they will feel it get stuck. If they force it, they hear a scream as it comes loose suddenly. They find a small, rotted, humanoid foot in the dumbwaiter. If they use anything to shrink or become an animal, they follow corridors to no avail. If the players follow the other hallway to the right, they come across a beat up kitchen with a figure huddled up over a bloody creature. A DC 15 Nature check will tell the players it's a cow. "You follow the ruined, warped hallway until you reach a dimly lit kitchen. The white and black tiles are missing in places, and almost nothing remains of the wooden cupboards. Bloody knives and cleavers lay spread on the center island. In the far corner, a decrepit figure hunches over a large, bloody creature." The figure is an old man named Regulus Fixler. If approached, he will not seem alarmed - more bored by the players presence. If the players touch or attack him, they must make a DC 19 Will save, or be forced to step back out of reach. The players may witness him whispering to the chunks of meat, reanimating them into a familiar form: steakosaurus. Kaiser the undead gnome may hobble in at one point and tell Regulus what happened. If he lost a foot, Regulus will calmly repair it. Regulus otherwise engages in bored conversation with the players, being vague as if it's a waste of his time to explain things. If the players ask enough questions, Regulus will pull out an ornate hand mirror and sneakily look at the players through it. A DC 17 Perception check will reveal this to the players. Upon realizing the players are not manifestations, he becomes a bit more interested in speaking with them. At this point he will explain a little bit about this area: That it used to be the site of the Tenebrous Brothers' carnival built for demons. Eventually he will lead them into the ballroom and sit down at the chair on the balcony. Sir Bearington, an undead bear wearing a tutu approaches with drinks. Regulus will explain that naturally, he is lonely here without any visitors, so he creates his own friends through necromancy. He will explain that Sir Bearington was an original performer in the circus. Sir Bearington will look to the players and mumble, "please kill me." Regulus will ask if the players would like to see a performance by his "friends". If they agree, he ushers Sir Bearington off to start the show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRgwycboyfw "A number of undead appear from unnoticed corners of the mansion and begin dancing in carefully choreographed unison. Some wear extravagant circus garb, while others are painted like demons. All are obviously rotted and miserable shells of former living beings." "In all this material plane, the bard has always been king. No truer could it ever be, than in the case of The Tenebrous Brothers' grand circus. Their genius led to a proposition so magnificent, so simple and overlooked, that when they unleashed the idea upon the world, none were prepared to compete. It would be a circus for an underserved portion of interplanar population. A circus for the demons of the Abyss." "For years the circus thrived - and it was good. Demonkind and mankind alike would gather from miles around to experience the sights and sounds of the brothers' exposition. But good could not last forever. The Tenebrous Brothers hated each other. Each saw the other as inferior, and holding back the potential success of their endeavor. With crowds dwindling they resorted to more and more desperate measures. Sick and perverse performances stole the spotlight in an attempt to offer new forms of entertainment. But it wasn't enough." "It's not known which of them was the one to transplant the blight to this pass. It took to the soil and the trees as quickly as any botanist might dream. 'Come see the blight in your own back yard, in the secure confines of Betara!' As the situation became more dire, the brothers continued to fight. Aameul gained more favor among their small cult of followers, while Hethradiah slowly descended into madness. But bad things happen in the blight. One day after an argument, Hethradiah snapped, and created something so terrifying, it changed the dynamics of their interactions forever. The result of the brothers' actions are still seen today in this pass, ready to claim another victim. Will that victim... be you??" When the players are ready to leave, Regulus will warn the players of the danger, but creepily assure them that should they fall, he will make sure to bring them back. Rynn ''"Rynn?" ''A voice you recognize squeaks from a dark hallway connected to the balcony. A zombified version of Shump approaches, and is happy to see Rynn. If the players are shocked or angry that Regulus has done this to Shump, he will assure them he is not one of his zombies, and that he is the result of the blight. Kervon sees long lost love, tries to convince him that she's real enough Garamond Something about mind flayers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeldCwYDE5o Amethyst Sees her daughter - turns into wood creature Peridot Finds Archivist at the bottom of a pool of water, other players become mummies Demogorgon Battle Notes The Tenebrous Brothers (Aameul and Hethradiah) reveal themselves as Demogorgon - full power, not nerfed To defeat Demogorgon, the players must descend into madness to manifest something that can defeat them Along the way, the players learn that one of the brothers gained more power than the other. The other descended into madness and manifested something horrible in the forest, and used it as leverage. https://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Demogorgon Things Demogorgon could say: "What's this?! A bard! - A bard?? Tell us a story, bard!" "And you! - What's your name? - Cat's got your tongue?"